Good Music
by PrincessRuto313
Summary: After her best friend, Obito, dies, Yoko is left to cope. She stops going to school and most people forget about her. So, feeling she won't be missed, Yoko leaves Konoha. Rated for later scenes. btw I already know that Tobi is Madara so please don't flame
1. Chapter 1

**All right, I've never done a Naruto fanfic before and I'll admit that I'm not the most informed person when it comes to the Naruto world, so it's only fair to warn you that there will be some inconsistencies when it comes to things like details of certain events, ages and age differences, and locations. I hope you will forgive me of these faults. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the Akatsuki. Honestly I'm not sure who it is that owns it- but it ain't me!**

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"Obito-san, I beat you again!" Yoko accused, "I thought you said you were a real ninja now!"  
"I am! You just got lucky!" Obito insisted, getting to his feet.  
"Yeah right," She stuck her tongue out at him.  
He looked at her for a minute then reached out and poked her head, "Tag," He disappeared. By the time she caught up with him they were nearing the training ground. She could almost touch him. Suddenly, he stopped. Going this speed she would hit him! The next thing she remembered was lying on the ground looking up at the sky and Obito and Rin leaning over her.  
"Hey are you okay?" Rin and Obito cried, helping her sit up.  
Yoko just looked at them. Her lip trembled and her vision started to get all blurry.  
"Ah! Yoko-chan, don't cry!" Obito put an arm around her.  
"C'mon, she's alive- lets go already," Kakashi said and looked down at the 5-year-old girl from nearby. She turned her face away from him and cried into Obito's jacket.  
"Kakashi, you've got to be the most heartless person I've ever met!" Obito shot back.  
"Well we gotta get going, this is an important day for me," Kakashi said tonelessly.  
"It is?" Obito asked, clueless.  
"Yeah, don't you remember me telling you?" Rin reminded him.  
"...Not really," He admitted.  
"Never mind then, you'll find out later," She sighed, "We really should go now though. We want to get an early start to the mission," She went over to talk to Kakashi.  
"Okay..." He looked at Yoko, "I have to go now. I'll see you again soon, okay?"  
"Okay, but- um..." She blushed and looked at her lap nervously.  
"What is it?" He asked curiously.  
She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Be safe,"  
He grinned sheepishly, "Don't worry, I'll stay alive if it means I get to see such a pretty girl again," He hugged her again, "See ya,"  
"Yeah, see ya," She watched as he left with his two teammates.

**A bit short, most of the chapters will be relatively short, but I promise to update often!**


	2. Chapter 2

Yoko stared at the thing that was in Kakashi's outstretched hand then looked up at Kakashi himself. She took them from him, "Why are you giving me these? Did you steal them from Obito-san?" She slipped the goggles onto her own head, "Where is he? I'd better go give them back,"  
Kakashi just looked at her and for once she saw grief in his eyes. Rin, she noticed, was standing behind him looking extremely upset, "You guys? Say something!"  
"Obito- he said to give those to you. You always liked them," Kakashi attempted.  
"Wh- What? Why?" Their strange behavior seemed disturbing to Yoko. If they were trying to worry her to death then it was working, "You guys, where's Obito-san? What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like somebody-?" She cut herself off and looked up into his eyes and then her eyes. It was Minato who had to tell her the whole story. Her best friend was dead.  
She cried a lot after that. Cried until she couldn't remember what she was crying about. But then she would remember and cry even more. She didn't speak either unless it was to ramble about him while she was dreaming. In her waking life she was depressed and quiet, driving everyone away from her.  
One person didn't leave her, though. Kakashi seemed to have taken an interest in her (No not THAT kind of interest.... sicko). He had noticed that she had been less and less involved in school. He knew Obito wouldn't have wanted that and he told her so.  
She just looked at him.  
"Aren't you gonna say something?"  
She shook her head.  
"Well are you going back to school or what?"  
She shook her head.  
"Weren't you listening? Obito wouldn't have wanted you to quit! Why are you so intent on it?"  
She wrote something in the dirt, 'People stare at me,'  
"So? They did before too,"  
'They're mean to me now,'  
He sighed and was quiet for a minute. Then she wrote something else, 'will you train me?'  
"Me? Are you sure? It won't be easy," Kakashi warned her.  
'I don't care,"  
So she trained with him all through her childhood and he was right- it wasn't easy. But nothing had been easy in her life so it suited her just fine. Eventually she left the leaf village. Illegally, but no one really seemed to notice except for Kakashi. He wouldn't go after her or report her though. It wouldn't do any good.  
She didn't even really know where she was going. She just knew that she didn't want to go back. So she wouldn't. Besides, she had a good feeling about today. Like she would meet someone important. Well she did meet someone but the circumstances seemed rather unlucky to her.


	3. Chapter 3

"No way! It looks like they got Deidara-san, too!" Tobi knelt by the disembodied limb on the ground, "It's decided. He definitely died in an explosion, right, Zetsu-san? I bet it happened somewhere around here," He laughed.

"Let go of my hand, you little shit!" Deidara appeared from behind a tree.

"Oh, you're alive!" Tobi cried. Deidara walked toward them.

"What happened to the Jinchuuriki?" Zetsu inquired.

"I finished my mission," Deidara said simply.

"Wow, you really cut it close, Deidara-san! But you're okay, right? I guess not!" Tobi laughed.

"Tobi, say one more thing and I'll be deciding how you die," Deidara warned.

"What's to decide? You'd just blow me up!"

Deidara jumped on him and began strangling him with his legs. Eventually Tobi was able to throw Deidara off. He stood still for a minute to catch his breath.

Suddenly he heard something, "Hey, you guys, what's that sound?" There was a curious music coming from somewhere nearby.

"Hmm. Let's go check it out,"

Yoko, at the time, lay on the forest floor, gazing up at the trees through Obito's goggles. Even though she was 16 now, she still kept them close to her heart. She sat up and raised her clarinet to her lips.

The song she played was quite sad. It made most decent folk weep. She wistfully watched as a figure materialized in front of her. At first it was unrecognizable but soon it began to develop familiar features. A boy with dark hair and dark eyes was now crouching in front of her, grinning. Obito-san. But then, a young Kakashi materialized behind him and they began having a silent conversation. In the end Obito-san waved bye to her and ran off with Kakashi.

She finished the song, then sighed and stretched. It didn't hurt as much to think about him anymore. She had known she had to get better at some point. Obito-san wouldn't have wanted her to stay sad. Hmmm- He would be about twenty-four now wouldn't he? If he were here she would make fun of him for being so old. She giggled at the thought.

Rising from her spot, she went to a puddle nearby to gaze at her reflection. Large, dark blue eyes; waist-length, auburn hair; small, cute nose- _not bad_, she thought, smiling at herself.

Suddenly she sensed several people nearby. About four. She could tell by their emotions that they were watching her. There was a couple to her left. One of them was sad, the other was bloodthirsty. The one to her right was irritated and very uncomfortable. The one behind her was overwhelmingly curious.

The reason Yoko knew all this was because she had a unique ability; she was able to sense people's emotions. With this gift she could learn important things, such as who was the weakest in a squad, who was planning to attack her at any given moment, and sometimes she would even manipulate peoples feelings.

"That song was very lovely, my dear," Someone from the left stepped out.

"**Cut to the chase, she's trespassing,**" He said in a darker voice, apparently to himself.

Yoko looked him up and down. What an astounding person. His face was half black and half white and he was half-consumed by a giant Venus flytrap. He began to stride toward her. She suddenly wished that Kakashi-sensei were here. Kakashi would remain calm in such a situation. Yoko was sure she looked quite small and pitiful under the frightening man's gaze.

He stopped in front of her and spoke, "Do you have any business in this area?"

"Nope, not really," She answered.

"Well you're trespassing, hm," Another voice said from behind her. A blonde, armless guy stepped out. He walked up to her, too. Yoko had an urge to knock him over and see how he would get up but decided that it would be quite a rude thing to do.

"I'm sorry, shall I leave?" She turned to go.

"What do you think? Should we let her go, hm?" One of them whispered.

"Well, according to the rules, because she's within 10 kilometers of the base and because she's seen us, we can't let her go," The other whispered. Yoko quickened her pace.

"Rules? What rules? We're criminals- doesn't that mean we don't follow rules, hm?"

"Leader-sama got fed up with us getting caught all the time so he made some rules. He put them up on the fridge, didn't you see them?"

"No- I haven't been at the hideout for a few days, remember? Hey- she's getting away, un!"

"What- hey get back here!"

She broke out into a run. She led them on a chase that lasted about 10 minutes before she could get away.

"That was close," She sighed.

"Oh really?" Someone grabbed her around the waist from behind. She struggled to get away while he yelled in victory, "Yay, Tobi caught the pretty lady, Tobi's a good boy!"

_Crap! Forgot about the third one!_

"What the- who are you? Let me go!"

"I can't do that, I have to take you home!"

"What?! You mean THAT'S what you guys want?" She cried in disgust. She bit his hand. Even through the thick fabric it hurt him. He cried out and let go of her. She pulled out her club and swung it at his face. Fortunately for him he was wearing a mask and so it didn't break his nose like it should have. However it did cause him intense pain.

Tobi sat up and stared at her for a minute. Then he pulled his mask up to just above his nose. Blood was pouring out of his nose. He put a hand to his face. He opened his mouth to speak but it seemed like no words would come out. Then, "Y-you hit me!"


	4. Chapter 4

Tobi sat up and stared at her for a minute. Then he pulled his mask up to just above his nose. Blood was pouring out of his nose. He put a hand to his face. He opened his mouth to speak but it seemed like no words would come out. Then, "Y-you hit me!"

"Well that's what you get for preying upon innocent, young girls!" Yoko sang, and back-flipped out of the way as he appeared next to her and aimed a punch at her face. But then he appeared above her and kicked her in the stomach.

_Damn!_

On top of that, in midair she managed to twist in such a way that she landed on her right leg and heard a sickening crack come from it. She rolled onto her back, her face a mask of horror and pain- she had never broken a bone in her life!

Tobi came to stand next to her. She grabbed her club, which had fallen nearby and swung it at his head. He caught it easily and tossed it somewhere behind him. He looked down at her strangely. Yoko sensed that he was disturbed. At what? At hitting her? He knelt down beside her.

"Don't touch me!" She ordered, as fiercely as she could muster. When he ignored her by inspecting her leg she produced her clarinet and jabbed it at his face, "Eat splinters, creep!" he responded by taking the reed out, and breaking it in half. She glared at him, "Ya know, that was my last reed! I hope you're planning on whittling a new one for me, buster!"

"Please try not to move," He begged, "You'll only hurt yourself even more,"

"B- but what else am I supposed to do?" She stammered. Her lip trembled the way it always did before she- oh no! Not now! Not here with this strange man! But the tears came anyway.

"Ah! No, please don't cry!" He pleaded, "I'm sorry for hurting you, okay? Don't worry I'll take you back to the base and fix your leg. Then you'll be alright!" She could hear the grin in his voice and giggled at it, "There, that's better," He constructed a makeshift splint out of a strong piece of wood and his scarf. Then he lifted Yoko onto his back.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Yoko,"

"Hmm, Yoko-chan," He said as though it reminded him of something.

"Yeah, and you're Tobi-san, right?"

"Yup,"

"Hey where are we going anyway?"

"We're going to meet, Deidara-san and Zetsu-san. You've already met them,"

"Oh no!"

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you,"

"How do you know?" She asked miserably.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, "Because I won't let them," She could hear that grin in his voice again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Aw, man, She'd better not expose us, un!" Deidara groaned, "I can't believe a couple of dangerous criminals were outsmarted by a little girl! What will we tell Leader-sama?"

Tobi dropped down next to him out of a tree, "Yeah, you're pretty lame, Deidara-san. Here I am doing your job better than you and I'm not even part of the Akatsuki yet!"

Deidara jumped up and was about to attack him again when he saw that Tobi had caught the girl, "Tobi, you brilliant fool!"

"Not bad, this bodes well for you," Zetsu told him.

"So," Deidara said to the girl, "You thought you could outsmart us, did you?" He leaned closer to her face, "But it didn't work!"

"Get out of my face," She said coldly.

"What are you gonna do if I don't?"

She bit his nose. Deidara screamed and Zetsu rolled his eyes while Tobi howled with laughter.

Eventually they began traveling to the base that Yoko had heard them talk about. Once they were near it, they knocked her out to keep the location a secret.

When she woke up she was laying in a soft bed. _Ow! My head hurts, but my leg feels much better!_ She opened her eyes.

She was in a small but rather pleasant room. The walls were a simple white color and covered in an array of posters. The floor was a patchwork of small rugs. There were two beds in this room, arranged at opposite walls. The room was rather dark at the moment so she couldn't really make out what any of the furniture along the walls looked like. Across the room, at one of the two windows, the thick curtains were pulled back. A person was sitting there in a chair, looking out into the night.

The man stood up and approached her, "Ah, you're awake!" It was Tobi. He knelt down next to the bed, "How's your leg?"

"It feels fine now,"

"Well, that's good. The Akatsuki healed it for you," He explained.

"Huh? But aren't they criminals?" When he nodded she said, "So I guess that means they want me alive. I wonder why?"

"Maybe they're considering you for the position, too . . ." Tobi suddenly sounded glum.

"What position?"

"They're looking for a new member for the organization. I've been trying to get it,"

"Oh! Well I'm certainly not gonna compete with you for it. I'm not really criminal material," Yoko assured him.

"Heheh- well you're not fighting material, that's for sure!" He teased. Yoko glared at him, "But if they're considering you then you don't have a choice,"

"Hmm, I see,"

The door opened, "Tobi, are you bothering her again?" It was the armless person from before, Deidara. Only now he had arms, "Oh, you're awake, are you? Well I have good news- for one of you at least. One of you is going to be my new partner,"

"Oh really? Who?" Yoko asked.

"It hasn't been decided yet. Until it is, you are to remain here with us,"

"Hmph- Fine," She told him, displeased with the fact that he had just given her an order.

After Deidara had left, Tobi announced that he was going to show her around now. Yoko found that she was glad for Tobi's company; this place really gave her a bad feeling. After all, it was a hideout for dangerous criminals whom she was obviously no match for. Tobi, she had found out, was a formidable opponent and he had told her that he wouldn't let anyone harm her. So she would try to stick close him.

She wondered how it would be decided who was going to join Akatsuki. They would probably be put against each other in a fight, she realized. This thought made her glum. _So what does that mean? What if I lose? Will they kill me after that? Or maybe I'll die fighting with Tobi. _

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized Tobi had led her to the living room. It was a simple, open room, but it seemed rather foreboding in her current state of mind. The floor was plain wood. Against one wall was a sofa. It faced a TV across the room. In a corner of the room there was a small table and two wooden chairs. The two chairs were occupied by a dark-haired, dark-eyed man and Deidara, who also looked rather creepy in Yoko's opinion.

"Come on," He insisted, when he saw that she was hesitating in the doorway. She followed reluctantly. They went over to the sofa. A rather intimidating shark-like man was sitting there watching TV. Tobi took a seat there and motioned to the seat next to him, between him and the shark-man. Yoko sat down rather reluctantly, even though she could sense that the man wouldn't harm her.

Tobi introduced him as Kisame. Yoko was surprised to find out that Kisame was actually a rather nice person. She ended up liking him a lot. She was even more surprised when, once he had joined their conversation, Deidara turned out to be a nice person. Itachi, the dark-eyed man, still seemed pretty scary to her, though. Yoko could tell that Kisame and Deidara somewhat trusted her now. She was glad; the more friends she had here, the better. She spent the rest of the day watching TV with them.

On their way back to their room, Tobi decided it would be a good idea to play tag. He had spun around suddenly, and tagged her and then he had disappeared before her eyes had a chance to catch up with him.

"Um- Tobi-san?" She called uncertainly.

Yoko could feel eerie presence nearby and desperately wished Tobi were here. This presence was a very destructive one, she could tell, and she didn't want to run into him. As she was thinking this, someone crept up behind her. Someone grabbed her arm and a blade was pressed to her throat, "You lost or something, girl?"

Yoko responded by stabbing the unknown attacker in the side with a dagger she had been concealing. He released her and she spun around to face him. It was a strange man with short white hair. He was holding his side looking kind of taken aback. Then he looked at her and, of all things, burst into laughter. He pulled the dagger out of his side and tossed it towards her. She caught it easily, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Heheh, you would make a good addition, wouldn't you?" He cackled, eyeing certain parts of her body, "Aggressive and beautiful," She wrinkled her nose in disgust; his aura was so foul that she was almost able to smell it. Tobi dropped from the ceiling and stood in front of her protectively. She was glad to have a barrier between her and the awful aura, "Leave her alone, Hidan…"

Hidan smirked, "Hmph, that's interesting, you guys are supposed to be competing, not helping each other," He turned and walked away.

Tobi turned to look at her, "Come on," He grabbed her hand.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright," Deidara announced, "We're here, hm"

"What's going on? Why have you brought us here?" Yoko looked at the wide-open field suspiciously. There were marks on the trees throughout the field as though they had been cut. Pieces of practice dummies were scattered over the ground. Yoko even thought she could see a limb or two laying in the grass. It was a training ground.

She thought she already knew what was going on. Today she and Tobi would fight. Why else would Deidara and Zetsu have led them out here? And why else would the rest of the organization be following them, shouting things such as, "Beat her to a pulp!" and, "Girl Power!" Yoko was mildly disturbed at the fact that the latter sounded like Itachi.

Sure enough, Zetsu announced that they would be fighting: "Until they could fight no more," and: "If that meant to the death, then so be it," As these words left his mouth, Yoko looked at Tobi and realized he was watching her. She wondered if he would actually fight her to the death. For these past few days they had become pretty good friends; he had even taken off his mask in front of her, something he never did in front of other people (Yoko wasn't entirely sure whether this meant anything, though, because he usually wore a cloth mask beneath that (Similar to what Kakashi-sensei wore) therefore she still hadn't really seen his face)

She was snapped out of her thoughts when a hand touched her shoulder. It was Kisame. She smiled at him; he had become her friend, too.

"Yoko-chan," He began, "I just wanted to tell you that . . ." He sniffed dramatically and pulled her into a giant bear hug, "I just wanted to say I'll never forget all the hours of TV we watched together! And I promise to give you a nice burial at sea if there's anything left of you!"

"Kisame-san! What are you talking about?" She gasped, "I am not gonna die! You could be a bit more supportive, ya know!"

He let her down, "I'm just kidding," He laughed, "Break a leg!"

The opponents walked out to the middle of the field, "Alright, you may begin when you're ready," Zetsu told them.

Before we go on, it's important to know what weapons Yoko uses. Yoko uses a weapon that she calls a club, and indeed it does look like a golf club. But it also has blades concealed within the opposite end so that it can become a scythe, as well.

Yoko and Tobi turned to stare at each other. They stayed that way for a long time then suddenly they had both disappeared. They reappeared about 20 feet up in the air. Both had attempted to attack and it had come to a draw.

_Wow that was fast! How did he predict my move? _

She swung at him with her club a few more times, though she knew it would be useless. Something was weird was going on here- she felt hypnotized, she couldn't look away from his eyes. This had never happened before- why was she getting so distracted over his eyes? Hmmm…? Had she just seen a flash of red?

She forced herself to break eye contact and swung her club at his head. It connected with a sickening sound and sent him flying several meters away. He was up in less than a second, fury evident in his one visible eye. In that moment Yoko was immensely horrified. He moved, with inhuman speed, directly at her, his fist aimed at her face. She held up her arm to block it.

Suddenly she was laying on the ground on top of what felt like a person. It was a clone that she had made earlier and had ordered to hide until it was needed. It had saved her life. The clone disappeared with a popping noise. Her right arm felt as though it had been run over by a car. _Oh no! Not another broken bone!_

Out of the corner of her eye she could see some commotion going on among the spectators. Several people had to physically restrain Kisame from rushing out into the middle of their battle. He was shouting furiously something about, "Red-eyed bastards" and unfairness and about how Yoko couldn't weigh more than 45 kilograms.

"Kisame-san, stay out of it!" She pleaded, "I can handle it, I promise!"

He glared in response, but stopped struggling. Tobi was now approaching her, she struggled to stand, but he beat her to it. He grabbed her by her collar and pulled her closer to his face.

"Yoko," He hissed, "Please, give up. I don't want to hurt you,"

"Bit late for that," She growled in response, staring hard at the orange swirl that now engulfed her entire line of vision. She couldn't ever remember being so furious with someone, "In case you hadn't noticed, my arm is out. The bone is broken clean through," She grimaced inwardly at the pain.

He gasped, clearly horrified, "I'm sorry- I was just making it convincing! I didn't mean to hit you that hard!"

"Could have fooled me," She replied coldly, and abruptly shoved her knee into his stomach. He dropped her and fell back.

She could feel herself losing it now. Adrenaline was coursing through her. Her body felt light. Her blood was boiling. Her mind flashed back to the moment of wrath she had seen in Tobi's eye. _How __**dare**__ he attack me so wholeheartedly! _In the back of her mind Yoko knew she ought to try to restrain herself. But she was too far-gone for that now. She noticed the spectators visibly cringe as they felt her angry aura engulf them. They were scared. Their fear was nothing compared to the fear of the man that now lay stunned at her feet.

She advanced on Tobi, "Just what the hell are you trying to pull anyway!?"

She couldn't remember what exactly she did after that, only that she attacked him madly and blindly. She remembered him falling, and then she jumped on top of him. She vaguely remembered his mask coming off and then she saw it.

She had never seen it before, so she was startled when she recognized what it was. Sharingan. It took a second before she realized that she shouldn't be staring into it. But then his eyes went dark- he had deactivated the Sharingan.

"T-Tobi-san, you're-!" She paused to scream in agony as the pain hit her. Her arm, she had forgotten about it while she was fighting. When she opened her eyes she was laying on the ground on her side curled around her hurt arm. Tobi was laying next to her with an anxious expression on what was visible of his face.

"Yoko-chan, please don't move now, you're really hurt!" He pleaded. Her arm throbbed excruciatingly. She would have had it fall off if only it would relieve her of the pain. Now Tobi proceeded to turn into a shapeless blur. Yoko felt moisture well up in her eyes. Oh great; she was crying!

"Ah! Yoko-chan, please don't cry!" He reached over and brushed her face gently, to remove the tears. Yoko had a vague feeling of Déjà vu, however it was lost for the most part. Right now, she wanted to concentrate on simple things; such as the way he was touching her face right now.

This intimate moment didn't last very long, "Yoko-chan!" Kisame-san's voice boomed across the meadow to announce his presence. He rolled her gently onto her back.

"Kisame-san," She murmured pitifully, and grinned, "I told ya I could handle it,"

"Well, you sure did a bang up job," He grinned back, "Come on, let's get you guys back to H.Q."

Will update again very soon! I hope you like it! ^_^


	7. Chapter 7

Yoko woke up feeling strange, she couldn't put her finger on it, but something weird was going on. She sat up in bed, looking over at Tobi's bed automatically. He wasn't there. Why would he be walking around at this time of night- especially as beat up as he looked after the fight earlier? He's must be pretty sore, after all.

So, cursing her stiff body, she stood up and, painfully, made her way out into the hallway. She searched silently all up and down the hall but he was not there. It was dark and creepy out here, she didn't wish to stay for long so she hoped Tobi would come out soon and return with her.

She made her way down the hallway, towards the living room. She suddenly felt very impatient; she really wanted to get to the living room as quickly as possible. Her breathing quickened, she started to jog, then finally broke out into a run. She could sense fear- someone was being hurt! Whoever they were, they were in the living room. Now she felt a very urgent need to save them. The vibe coming from the frightened person told her it was someone very important to her.

She burst into the living room. It was completely dark in here except for a strange light that didn't seem to have a source. The light illuminated two figures in the middle of the room. One was standing; the other was crumpled on the ground in a puddle of red liquid.

The standing figure turned to look at her, "Yoko-chan," He smiled, "I've been waiting for you,"

"Hidan!" She screeched, "What the hell is going on? Who is that?"

"He said to give this to you- you always liked it," The familiar words hit her like a ton of bricks. _No, _She thought, _not again!_ Hidan held out his hand, an object wrapped in cloth was there. She took it from him, her fingers trembling. She knew what it was before she even saw it; the ridged texture, the orange color, the swirling design. . .

She stared hard at it, "H-Hidan-san… W-Why are you giving me th-this? Did you steal it from Tobi-san?" The words spilled out of her mouth without her realizing it, almost identical to the ones she had spoken on that day nearly 12 years ago. Her body was shaking now. She rose to her feet, feeling numb and confused, "It was you wasn't it? You killed him," Her voice was strange and foreign to her.

"Me? Yeah, right! You're the one who killed him!" He pointed toward the person crumpled on the ground, "Just ask him yourself,"

The words struck her like a punch in the stomach. She suddenly felt dizzy. It was her fault? How could that be? She hadn't done anything wrong… Had she? Somehow she got her feet to move toward the still form on the ground. The red liquid puddled on the floor felt warm against her bare feet. She dropped down limply to her knees.

She rolled the person over onto his back. His eyes opened.

"Hey, Yoko-chan," He grinned a familiar grin.

"O-Obito-san!" She cradled her still 12-year-old best friend.

"Sorry, I really meant to come back to you sooner, but I guess I forgot!" He apologized sheepishly. Then he looked at her more seriously, "I'm sorry that it hurt so much…"

"Obito-san, w-where have you been?" Her voice was high-pitched. She began to sob.

He was sitting up now, fingering the goggles around her neck, "I'll be back soon for these," He said, ignoring her question, "Please don't cry anymore, Yoko-chan," He smiled reassuringly, "I won't be far away," He stood up, somehow completely healed of his injuries.

"What? Where are you going?" She jumped up, noticing that they were now standing in the middle of a forest.

He only grinned in response, then looked over at someone who was concealed in the shadows. 12-year-old Kakashi-sensei stepped out followed by 12-year-old Rin, "Come on, we have a mission. Don't forget that this day is very important for me!"

"See ya later, Yoko-chan!" They all turned and ran, disappearing into the forest.

She tried to run after them but her legs seemed to have turned to jelly. She stumbled and fell flat on her face, sobbing.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Eventually she realized that she was crying into someone's chest; that strong arms were wrapped around her quivering frame.

"Yoko-chan," A voice whispered soothingly, "Wake up,"

She recognized the voice immediately and lifted her gaze to his face, "Tobi-san?"

"Yoko-chan," His voice was filled with relief, seeing her awake. It was obvious that he had been immensely worried about her, and that he still was, "You- you were crying in your sleep,"

She sat up and looked around, bewildered. Why was she here in her room, sitting on Tobi's bed? She had just been in a forest, right? Talking with Obito. And Tobi- Hidan had said he was…

Her eyes snapped back to the very concerned Tobi in front of her. She looked him up and down, but he was unharmed, aside from injuries left over from the battle earlier today.

"Yoko-chan, what's wrong?" He asked, alarmed at her strange behavior. She didn't answer, she only threw her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his forehead. Somehow he managed to calm her down long enough to get her to explain her dream.

When she reached the part about thinking he was dead, she had to pause and hug him again. It had just felt so real.

"Heheh, I wouldn't die that easily! You don't have to worry," He laughed, but he hugged her anyway.

Then she reached the part about Obito.

"Yeah, you mentioned that name several times while you were dreaming. Who is he?"

A pained expression crossed her face, "He was my best friend," She went on to explain their history together from the beginning. Yoko had been abandoned at a very young age. She could remember very little of her parents. Her earliest memories were of a cave- a shelter of some sort, used during times of war. She lived there alone for a bit until Obito found her. Every day he would bring her food so that she didn't have to steal it. Worried for her safety, and because his family wouldn't adopt her, he had started to live there with her.

Yoko told Tobi all kinds of stories; how Obito was the one who inspired her to start training; how she disliked his teammate, Kakashi, so much that she would play pranks on him every chance she got (and how Kakashi coincidentally became her sensei later on (Tobi found this hilarious)); how they had once stayed out in the sun too long and had gotten sunburned- how the next day they spent the whole day rubbing aloe on each others backs.

Then she told him how Obito had died. How she had been utterly alone. How she refused to speak again for years afterward.

"Oh- I'm sorry, it's late and I know this stuff is really depressing so I can stop talking now if-!" She was hushed when he put a finger to her lips.

"You don't have to worry," He shifted closer to her, "I like it when you talk. . ."

A blush blossomed across her face, which caused him to smile. She turned her face away, afraid the giddiness would show, but shuddered in spite of herself.

He noticed, "Yoko-chan, are you cold?"

"Yeah, a bit," It wasn't completely a lie; after all they did keep it pretty cold in the hideout. And all she was wearing was a tank top and knee length skirt.

He slid his arms around her carefully; making sure it was what she wanted. When she leaned into the embrace he pulled her so that they were laying together under the covers, "There, isn't that better?"

_Duh. _She couldn't even begin to describe to him how much better it was to lay here next to him instead of alone and cold in her own bed. Somehow she had never quite noticed his scent before, now it was everywhere. Tobi, his face pressed into her hair, inhaled deeply, too.

Yoko, in danger of losing herself to a hormonal paradise, tried to concentrate on sleep. Whenever she had almost drifted off, however, Tobi would sigh into her ear or change the position of his hands on her body, and then a whole new wave of feelings would stir. Finally she managed to drift off to sleep again; this time, she would have peaceful dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

Note: **Dark Zetsu's dialogue looks like this; **Light Zetsu's dialogue looks like this.

Well, winter was back- with a vengeance! And to Yoko, as she sat freezing in the small, dilapidated house next to the little fireplace, it seemed that all it's vengeance was centered on her. She seemed to be in situations like this all the time these days; ever since the Akatsuki had made her a full-time member. They had liked her and Tobi's performance on the test so much that they had decided they could both join. Yoko wasn't entirely sure how leader-sama had found room, but she suspected it had something to do with Orochimaru's head turning up on a pike next to the entrance to their Headquarters.

She reached into her jacket, fishing in the pocket for a minute, and finally got her numb, shaking hands to grasp the pocket watch. She pressed the button and it clicked open. _Hmm? He's late?_

It wasn't like Zetsu to be late. He was a perfectionist when it came to this sort of thing. Something bad must have happened to him if he was late. Reluctantly, she rose from her spot next the small fire, which had finally begun to warm her, and peeked out of a hole in the boards that covered the window.

The frozen earth outside was as white and bleak and silent as it had been when she had reached this abandoned house- their meeting place. Her part of their mission was long since finished. She had been immensely surprised when she showed up to the place to find it empty; she hadn't even expected to beat him by a second, much less an hour. She was beginning to feel rather anxious. She wasn't sure how much danger he could be in- he and leader-sama hadn't told her much about the mission, only what her part was. But she knew it had something to do with the assassination of a member of a rather powerful family in this region.

_Maybe I should go look for him. _

Just as the idea was forming in her head, she heard a strange noise behind her. She spun around so fast that she almost fell over. Zetsu had emerged out of the floorboards. At first Yoko was purely relieved to see him, but then she saw the look on his face and the blood on his clothing.

"Zetsu-senpai!" She rushed to his side and grabbed his arm to keep him from falling over.

"Yoko-chan," He gasped, "We have to leave- they're coming. They know where we are,"

"Zetsu-senpai, you're not well enough even to walk!" She reminded him, "I'll have to send a signal for the others to come, maybe Deidara-senpai could-,"

"No," He insisted, "Deidara's on a mission,"

"Then let me heal you and then we can-,"

"**There's not enough time**!"

"Well I guess I could carry you then . . ." She said doubtfully.

When he didn't protest, she balanced him on her back and took off in the direction of home. Huh? That's funny- when did she start thinking of it as home? She wondered silently to herself.

Well, it turned out that Zetsu was just as heavy as he looked, so she quickly had to stop and rest. Soon she found a small patch of dirt that wasn't covered in snow and so she slid him off her back carefully and placed him on the ground next to her.

"Geez, Zetsu-senpai, no offense but you seriously need to think about your diet. Maybe you should go for the skinnier ones, ya know?"

He didn't answer

"Eh- Zetsu-senpai?"

Silence.

"Oh, come on! I was only joking! You can eat as many fat people as you want," When he didn't answer that she finally looked over at him.

Well no wonder he wasn't answering. He seemed to have fallen asleep. Curiously she crept up next to him. Yoko had never seen him asleep before; he looked a lot more innocent like this- almost cute. She smiled at him fondly.

_Oh wait; I should be healing him now, shouldn't I?_

She leaned in to get a better look at the wounds; being careful not to touch the leaves- she had a feeling that they weren't only for show. As she went about examining the wound and healing it, she had a feeling that she was being watched.

_Maybe if I can just finish healing Zetsu-senpai we can fight together. _That plan was immediately ruined when a noise behind her caused her to jump and brush one of Zetsu's leaves. Instinctively, she jumped back, landing in a crouch a few feet away. The leaves snapped shut.

_Whew! That was close! _

Then she remembered the sound she had heard and whipped around, but it was too late. She managed to glimpse a figure a few meters away from her before she was promptly slammed, face first, into the ground.

"So you are the ones who assassinated our lord!" Someone was sitting on her back, "Well what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I -I don't know what you're talking about!" She attempted lamely.

"Liar!" A sharp pain ran across her cheek. A cut. She felt a liquid drip from it.

"Yo," The other ninja called, "This is the one who did it, not the woman,"

"Yeah," A third voice chuckled, "Looks like he's already dead, though,"

There was a thud. Yoko gasped. They had kicked him. Rage welled up inside her chest, "Leave him alone!"

The one that was on top of her leaned in until he was speaking into her ear. She shuddered as his sticky, foul breath clung to her skin, "You're not in any position to be making demands. I'd watch my mouth if I were you,"

"What organization are you and your friend here with?" One of them walked up to stand in front of her. She only lay there, very still. There was no way she would betray her friends. Besides, she didn't feel like talking. Her back was beginning to ache from the weight of the icky-breathed man on top of her.

"Oi- I'm talking to you, woman!"

Yoko screamed as his foot struck her in the face. They took turns beating her until they realized that she wasn't going to talk.

"Hey, where did the other one go?" One of the others asked in surprise, indicating Zetsu.

"What? I don't know- I would have noticed if he had gotten up and ran away,"

"You!" One of them grabbed her by her hair and lifted her up until she was nose to nose with him, "Where did he go?"

"How am I supposed to know?" She shot back, earning herself a fist to the stomach. He dropped her to the ground again. They didn't bother restraining her now- they knew she was stunned. She knew it, too, though it infuriated her. She watched helplessly as they left to scout the area.

She wondered where Zetsu-senpai had gone. _He wouldn't abandon me, would he? _She felt sad at this thought and hoped it wasn't the case. She had grown to like him. True, he was rather distant and quiet, and anything nice his light personality said was countered by something mean from his dark personality, but he was rather charming in his own way. If he was planning to rescue her, she hoped it would be soon; her vision was blurring in and out. And the snow was beginning to melt and creep into her jacket.

Suddenly, she heard a scream followed by cries of anger, agony, fear and a number of other disconcerting sounds. This made Yoko feel rather sick. She closed her eyes trying to block out the disturbing racket. Instead she concentrated on the numbness that had consumed her face and was now working through her jacket to the rest of her body.

The next thing she remembered was a voice. It was a very pretty voice, she thought, but it sounded so sad. No- wait, there were two voices.

"Yoko-chan, Wake up!"

"**Damn it, girl, answer me**!"

_I'm trying!_ She wanted to shout. She wanted to, but she couldn't move her body. Or speak at all. However, she slowly began to regain feeling. She realized that someone was holding her. She could feel hands on her face, her arms and her hands. Eventually she managed to open her eyes.

The sky overhead was dark and filled with stars. Though it was beautiful, the trees towering above her were just creepy. A man was hanging over her. At first it seemed to her like he was an angel. Then she realized it was Zetsu. When he realized she had woken up, there was an instant when his face lit up with pure joy and relief.

Then it was gone and he was glaring at her, "**Stupid girl, you almost got yourself killed**!"

"But I-!" She started to protest, then thought better of it, "Sorry. . . " Yoko wouldn't make excuses for herself. _Zetsu-senpai was really upset_, she thought, remembering the sorrowful voices.

He made an effort to keep glaring at her, but his gaze softened anyway.

He sighed, "Alright, but-," He paused and turned away from her; then said, almost inaudibly, "Be more careful next time,"

She smiled at him sheepishly and busied herself with healing the cuts and bruises all over her body. It didn't work very well because her chakra was pretty depleted she managed to get the most vital things healed up. Now the only thing to worry about was whether or not they would freeze to death.


End file.
